


Pride and Joy

by Shy_the_lawyer



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Car Accidents, Carter and Reese are alive too they just aren’t there, Coming Out, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Internalized Transphobia, Trans Female Character, Transphobia, healing root, my second ao3 fic, trans Sameen Shaw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:29:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24446626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shy_the_lawyer/pseuds/Shy_the_lawyer
Summary: Shaw comes out to Root
Relationships: Root | Samantha Groves & Sameen Shaw, Root | Samantha Groves/Sameen Shaw
Comments: 2
Kudos: 30





	Pride and Joy

**Author's Note:**

> Couple of things first
> 
> 1\. I am trans, HOWEVER I am ftm, not mtf. If I got anything wrong or accidentally said anything offensive, please correct me!!!
> 
> 2\. I’m still VERY new to fic writing, so please be nice to me lmao
> 
> 3\. I don’t own anything (obviously)
> 
> Anyway enjoy me projecting onto one of my favorite characters:)

Shaw may claim to be emotionless, but that’s far from the truth. Her emotions were muted, but they were still there.

And right now, doing her makeup on the floor in front of a tall mirror, she was feeling uncharacteristically anxious. 

A lot had changed in the last few weeks since they defeated Samaritan. They didn’t have to be in hiding anymore, and Root could recover from her gunshot wound in peace. It was nice not having to look over her shoulder all the time, Shaw had to admit.

Another thing that had quickly changed was the nature of Root and Shaw’s relationship. 

_C’mere, Sweetie_ ,  Root had mumbled to Shaw while in the hospital.  _Gimmie kiss_.

Shaw had done what she had asked, of course.

Ever since then the two had been even more inseparable than they had started off as. They were as affectionate as Shaw had ever been in her life, and she didn’t quite know how to handle it. However, cuddles weren’t the main thing on her mind this evening. 

Root was slowly but surely recovering, and she had just been cleared by the doctors for various physical activities, including light weightlifting, mild jogging, and  _ sex _ . 

It was their fourth date and Shaw still hadn’t found a way to tell Root. 

***

_ She remembers the car crash vividly. _

_ Her dad had been lecturing her again. He seemed to do that  _ constantly _. But this time, she was determined to do something different. She was tired of her identity being purposefully ignored. She had had enough. _

_ “Thomas.” She didn’t respond. “ _ Thomas _! Can’t you hear me?!” _

_ “That’s not my name,” she responded, voice quiet, but not unsure. _

_Her father recoiled like he had been slapped_. 

_“_ Excuse me _?!”_

_ “That’s not my  _ name . _” She repeated, face growing hot like it had on the few occasions she had cried._

_ For a moment, he was at a loss for words. Then, he got pissed. _

“ _Do_ not  _ ignore me, okay?! We’ll talk about this  _ later ! _Right now—“ during his shouting, he didn’t see the other car swerve into their lane_. 

_ Shaw did. _

***

Shaw was trying to find a way to approach what she called The Thing. 

She had never felt like this before, never cared enough about someone to worry about their reaction once they found out she was transgender. Either her flings still wanted to sleep with her, or they didn’t. She didn’t care much either way.

But  this .  This was different. 

Root, and her opinion of Shaw, mattered to her .  She wanted to make a good impression . Not that she would ever admit that.

She wasn’t used to caring this much about someone. She wasn’t used to caring at all. 

Which is why this was stressing her out to the extent that it was. 

Shaw knew that Root would eventually find out. And despite the fact that Shaw was proud of her identity as a trans woman, it still wasn’t something she was open about. She just didn’t have the time or energy to constantly answer all the _questions_ that cis people always had. 

However, Root being in her life was something that was important to Shaw. She decided then that she would put up with all the questions Root may ask. 

_ Even if they make my skin crawl,  _ she thought to herself.

A thought crossed her mind that Root might find her completely unloveable after this dinner. No matter how much she had tried to ignore it, a small thought at the back of her mind would always tell her that she was  _ unloveable _ , that she was  _ dirty _ , that she was _deceptive_ and a  _ manipulative disgusting **man** _ _._ She pushed the thought away and finished applying her makeup.

***

“So, sweetie,” Root had finished her bowl of ice cream, and was currently trying to scoop up some of Shaw’s. Shaw blocked her. “You ready to get out of here?” Root gave her a wink and smiled her ruby red lips.

Shaw took a breath.  _ Now or never,  _ she thought to herself. 

“Root, about that. I’ve gotta tell you something first,” she said. 

Root raised an eyebrow. “You alright, sweetie?”

“Yeah, I just . . . have to tell you something before we go. Root,” she looked into her eyes. “I’m trans. Thought you should know.” She shrugged her shoulders and put her elbows on the table in front of her as she waited for the confusion, the disgust, the rejection. It never came.

“Okay,” Root replied.

Shaw paused. “Is that it.”

“What else do you want me to say? Sam, I don’t care,” she smiled. “Anyway, as I was saying earlier, you want to get out of here?” 

Shaw wasn’t exactly sure how to react. Very few people had mattered to her in her lifetime, and she had come out to none of them until now. She was still getting used to having people in her life, and she had certainly never had someone in her life be  supportive of her.

She took a moment, and then said “sounds great,” with a slight smile. 

They had a  _very_ good night.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed, have a nice day!


End file.
